A corpora



C. E. ENNIS.

SWING RAIL SWITCH FROG.

APPLICATION FILED MAYI. me.

I 1,309,023. Patented July 8, 1919.

A TTORNE Y UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES EDWARD ENNIS, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR T0 WALLS FROGLESS SWITCH & IIIANUFACTURING- COMPANY, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, A CORPORA- TION OF COLORADO.

SWING-RAIL SWITCH-FROG.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 7, 1918. Serial No. 233,001.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES EDWARD EN- NIS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Kansas City, in the county of Jackson, State of Missouri, have inventeda certain new and useful Improvement in Swing-Rail Switch F rogs,of which the following is a full, clear, and exact descriptlon.

My invention is an improvement insw1ng rail switch frogs and it relates in particular to a mounting for the movable rail section and the means for swinging the'rail section from one position to the other. The principal objects of my invention are to provide a frog which can be renewed by replacing one rail only, in a much shorter time than the present frog in common use can be renewed, and without the need of tearing up the track; to provide novel and simplified means for swinging the movable rail section; to provide a mechanism formoving the parts of a switch which will tend to clean itself of snow, ice or 'debris and preclude the need of attention when heavy snows occur; andwithal to provide a device which will be able to withstand the heavy duties placed thereon on account of'heavy traflic and which shall be so simple in con struction and operation that it may be readily installed and maintained by the ordinary track man.

In the single sheet of drawings accompanying this application and forminga part hereof Figure 1 is a plan view of a swing-rail switch frog embodying my invention, certain of the parts being broken away to reduce the size of the figure;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the'same parts on a slightly larger scale;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken through the pivot point of the swinging rail section; and

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the fourarmed rocking lever which operates the parts.

Referring to the drawings, in which like characters of reference designate like parts in the several views, 1 indicates a base plate on which the swinging section is mounted and to the ends of which the main and switch track rails A, B, C, and D are secured. These rail ends are held in place by the side plates 2 and spreaders 3, which spreaders serve to give the rails the proper angle of divergence. Preferably the side plates, rail ends and spreaders are alljoined into a unitary structure by horizontalbolts 1 and the side plates are securely bolted to the base plate by bolts5 sothat the rails may not'creep with relation to the swinging section and thus interfere with the action of the latter by binding. "The swinging rail section E'is mounted to oscillate about a pivot 6 at its center. This pivot consists of a bolt which passes through a circular opening in the base" plate 1 and'which has" an enlarged head 7resting on the upper-face-of the base plate. This head, which is'circular, is received into a similar shaped recess formed in the base of a chair which comprises a pair'of plates 8 which receive the web and base of the railsection between them and whichare secured to the rail section by a plurality of bolts 9.

Means forswinging the rail section' comprise a plurality of cam levers 10, 10*" each separately: pivoted to the base plate 1 by bolts 11. In the preferred embodiment of my invention shown in the drawings four such cam levers are shown, one on each side of'the rail section adjacenteach end. The cam levers 10,10 on the same side of'the rail section are connected by a yoke 12, one such yoke being located on each side of the swinging rail section. The connection between the yoke and cam leverswis a pin and slot as illustrated so that a reciprocating movement of the yoke will swing the cam levers about their pivots. Y The ends of the yokes are secured to locking plates 13 which slide along the web of the rail-section E at opposite sides thereof and which are suitably guided in recesses in the chair members 8 and in recesses in auxiliary chairs 14 mounted adjacent each end of the swinging rail.

The ends'of the locking plates cooperate with sockets23 formed between the trackrailsA, B, O and D and the corresponding Spreaders 3 to lock the swinging rail-section against lateral displacement, in'conjunction with stops 23 projecting from the trackrails at the opposite sides. of their webs as will hereinafter bemore fully described.

Means for reciprocating the yokes 12 are provided as follows: To each yoke there is secured centrally a bent plate 15 which projects beyond the base plate and which is joined by a slotted connection to the upwarclly turned ends 16 of opposite arms of the four-armed or cross lever L which is pivoted on the lower reduced portion of the pivot pin 6. To the other pair of arms 17 of the lever L there are connected the operatin g links 18, 19. These links are connected to the opposite arms of a T-crank 20 pivoted at 21 and adapted to be oscillated by the link 22 which is actuated from the switch stand (not shown) or any power connection which operates the switch, as both switch and frog are operated together.

On the sides of the rails A, B, C, and D which are outermost with relation to the movement of the section E there are provided the before-mentioned stops 23 held in position in recesses provided therefor in the plates 2. These steps serve to limit the swinging movement of the rail section E and thus insure that it will stop in proper line with either the main or switch track rail, and they assist inlocking the swinging rail in its adjusted positions, by cooperation with the ends of the locking-plates 13 which occupy the sockets 23 at the opposite sides of the rails to which the stops are fastened.

The swing-rail switch frog is prevented from rising off the pivot bolt 6 by clips 2 1 bolted to the base plate 1 and reaching over the chair members 8 in such position as to prevent upsetting of the chair 8 and still permit limited oscillation thereof.

A link 25, also pivoted to the T-crank 20, may be connected to mechanism for operating a derail, or signals, or both as desired.

Operation.

Assuming the parts to be in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a pushing action on the link 22 will rock the T-crank 20 about its pivot 21 and, through the links 18, 19 will impart a similar movement to the cross lever L. Through its arms 16 with their slotted connections to their plates 15, reciprocation in opposite directions will be imparted to the yokes l2 and as a consequence to the plates 13. This reciprocation of the yokes and their attendant parts will be to the left on the. near side of Fig. 2 and to the right on the far side. The first result of this movement will be to withdraw opposite ends of the locking plates 13 from their respective sockets. During this initial movement the cam levers 10, 10 of course both swing slightly about their pivots 11 but the operative faces of these levers are shaped substantially so that each end of the effective face of the cams is substantially concentric with the pivots 11. As a consequence during the initial movement of the parts, while the locking members 13 are being withdrawn, there is no tendency for the swinging section to move. But after the locking bars are fully withdrawn further movement of the darts will cause the eccentric portions of tie cam faces of the levers 10 to react section in cit against the swinging section and move it drawings and the levers 10 will be in the position in which 10* are shown. From the foregoing it will be clear that all the cam levers swing in the same clockwise direction during each movement thereof and that, at a given time, a diagonally opposite pair of levers are causing the rail movement and the other diagonally opposite pair of levers are receding to permit it. It will be obvious that the return movement is the reverse of that just described.

At either limit of travel of the swinging section one pair of levers 10 or 10 stand at substantially right angles to the swinging section and a corresponding pair of levers stand in the position in which levers 10 are illustrated. At this extremity of swinging the levers 10 are engaged and held by stops 3 and therefore the swinging section is securely gripped between a lever which is rigidly held against swinging and one whose pivot point and operative face are in a line substantially at right angles to the swinging member and therefore in position of equilibrium. While I have shown only a pair of cam levers 10', 10 on each side of the swinging section it will be obvious that as many of these cam levers as desired to properly brace the section may be employed.

The pivot bolt 6 and its socket taper as shown where the bolt passes through the plate 1 and this is for the purpose of causing the bolt to recenter itself if it should be raised from its socket. This rising action may be caused by a locomotive coming to a stand on the swinging section and then starting with a slipping action of the drivers on the rails thus pushing the rails endwise until the coincidingtrack rail is butted, or when a train is stopped with its brakes so firmly set that the wheels slide over the frog section.

In its operative positions the swinging rail section is retained firmly in position by cooperation of the clips 24, the wedging action of the cam levers, the entrance of the locking bars 13 into their similar shaped sockets between the spacer plates 3 and the respective rails and engagement of the swinging section with the, stops 23. These several locking agencies cooperate insuring a firm and ri id retention of the swinging position. The eiiiairs '14;

adjacent the ends of the swinging section serve to maintain the ends of the section at proper height to cause them to register with the ends of the rails with which they are to be brought into alinement.

\Vhile I have described in detail the best embodiment of my invention now known to me I do not wish to be considered as limited to the precise details shown and described as it is obvious that many changes in details and arrangement may be made without departing from my invention.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a swing-rail switch frog, a base plate, a cylindrical pivot pin projecting tliereabove, a chair having a cylindrical recess in the bottom thereof, said pin being received in said recess, a rail section carried by said chair, and clips mounted on said base plate and extending over the base of said chair, whereby said chair is retained on said pivot but permitted to oscillate thereon.

2. In a swing-rail switch frog, a base plate, a rail section pivoted on said base plate, cam levers pivoted to said base plate on opposite sides of said rail section ad jacent one end thereof, said levers having their free ends in position to engage said rail, and means for simultaneously swinging said cam levers in the same clockwise direction, one approaching said rail as the otherrecedes therefrom.

3. In a swing-rail switch frog, a base plate, a rail section pivoted on said base, plate, cam levers pivoted on said base plate with their free ends in position to engage said rail, a pair of said cam levers" being 10-; cated adjacent each end of said rail, and; means for simultaneously swinging said cam levers in the same clockwise direction, one diagonally opposite pair of levers effecting the rail movement and the other diagonally; opposite pair of levers receding to permit it.

i. In a swing-rail switch frog, a base} plate, a ail section pivoted on said base, plate, a reciprocating yoke on each side of, said rail section, a cam lever connected adj acent each end of each yoke by a pin and slot connection, said cam levers being pivoted on said base plate with their free ends in operative relation to said rail section, and means for simultaneously reciprocating' said yokes in opposite directions.

5. In a swing-rail switch frog, a rail= section pivoted on said base plate, a reciprocating yoke on each side of said rail section, a CillIIl lever connected adjacent each end of each yoke by a pin and slot connection, said cam levers being pivoted on said base plate with their free ends in operative relation to said section, locking bars rigidly connected to each end of each yoke and guided on said pivoted rail section, a track structure at each end of said pivoted rail section having a pair of rails with each of which said pivoted section is adapted to be brought into line and having a socket adjacenteach rail end adapted to receive a locking bar, and means for simultaneously reciprocating said yokes in opposite directions.

6. In a swing-rail switch frog, a base plate, a rail section'pivoted on said base plate, cam levers pivoted to said base plate on opposite sides of said rail section adjacent one end thereof, said levers having their free ends in position to engage said rail and said free ends being each formed into a surface concentric with the pivot of said lever, a cam surface and a second surface concentrio with said lever, and means for simultaneously swinging said cam levers in the same clockwise direction, one approaching said rail as the other recedes therefrom.

7 In a swing-rail switch frog, a base plate, a rail sect-ion pivoted on said base plate, a reciprocating yoke on each side of said rail section and guided thereby. cam levers pivoted on said base plate with their faces in operative relation to said rail section, there being one of said cam levers connected adjacent each end 'of each yoke, a plate secured to each yoke and projecting beyond said base plate, a cross lever pivoted :below said base plate and on the center line of the swinging rail section, two of the arms of said cross lever being connected by a pin and slot to the plates mounted on said yokes, a pair of links connected to the other arms of said cross lever, and means for reciproeating said links in opposite directions.

8. In a swing-rail switch frog, a base plate, a rail section pivoted on said base plate, cam levers pivoted to said base plate on opposite sides of said rail section adjacent one end thereof, said levers having their free ends in position to engage said rail, means for simultaneously swinging the said cam levers in the same clockwise direction, one approaching said rail as the other recedes therefrom, and a stop in position to engage each cam lever at the end of its throw in a receding direction.

9. In a swing-rail switch frog, a base plate, a chair pivoted on said base plate,

'a rail section carried by said chair, an auxiliary chair section adjacent each end of said rail sect1on, cam levers pivoted to said base plate on opposite sides of said rail section and adjacent the ends thereof. said levers having their free ends in position to engage said rail and said free ends being each formed into a surface concentric with the pivot of said lever, a cam surface and a second surface concentric with said lever, a

yoke on each side of said rail section, a locking plate connected to each end of each yoke and guided in said pivoted chair and an auxiliary chair, one of said cam levers being connected to said yoke adjacent each end thereof 'by pin and slot connections, a plate carried by each yoke and projecting beyond said base plate, a cross lever pivoted below said base plate on the center line of said chair, pin-and slot connections between a pair of the arms of said cross lever and the plates mounted on said yokes, a link connected to each of the other arms of said 10 cross lever, and means for reciprocating said links in opposite directions.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affiXed my signature.

CHARLES EDWVARD ENNIS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained tor five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

